WASHINGTON -- Justice David Souter plans to retire from the Supreme Court, according to several reports.

Souter is planning to retire at the end of the court's current term, NPR reported. He is expected to remain on the bench until a successor has been chosen and confirmed, the report said.

A retirement would give President Barack Obama his first chance to nominate a justice and the next few months would bring Senate confirmation hearings.

Speculation had been swirling since news broke that Souter, 69, had not yet hired law clerks. The other eight justices were known to have hired the four law clerks who will work with them in the Supreme Court term that begins in October.

For the last three years, at least, the identities of Souter's clerks for the upcoming term have been known by now. Gossipy legal blogs actively seek out the names of the clerks -- recent graduates of the nation's top law schools who go on to lucrative careers and, sometimes, the Supreme Court.

Clerkships are highly sought and applicants have been known to interview with multiple justices in the hopes of landing a job at the high court. Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Stephen Breyer and John Paul Stevens were clerks when they were younger.

Clerks typically start work in July and spend the summer poring over appeals to decide which ones they think the court should hear. Justice Clarence Thomas recently said of new clerks that "the way that we work, there is no start up time. You hit the ground running and you're ready to go."

Distributed by Internet Broadcasting Systems, Inc. The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved.